In late 2013, something big and strange showed up in the Gulf of Alaska. Scientists called it “the Blob.” It wasn’t a monster. Instead, it was a monstrous amount of heat in the surface water of the northern Pacific. And it didn’t begin to dissipate until 2016. Scientists soon observed the same heat-up farther south. […]
The Blob: Fingerprint of climate change shows up in some extreme weather Read More »
Inspiration often comes from unusual sources. Nelson Sepúlveda knows this firsthand. He got his big idea for a new source of power simply by looking out the window at the right time. Sepúlveda is an engineer at Michigan State University in East Lansing. He studies materials that can be used to build tiny electronic devices.
What powers these electronics? We do! Read More »
On a clear, sunny Tuesday afternoon, last August, Andreas Fath climbed out of a river in Paducah, Ky. A small crowd was on hand to witness his setting a new world record. This man had just finished swimming the entire length of the Tennessee River — 1,049 kilometers (652 miles). And he did it in
Frank Borman was probably the first person to barf in space. Borman was part of NASA’s Apollo 8 mission, which lifted off a launch pad in Florida on December 21, 1968. Over the next six days, the mission made history as it circled the moon and returned home. But Borman, who led the mission, became
En route to Mars, astronauts may face big health risks Read More »
Many smartphone apps don’t cost anything to download and use. But don’t be fooled: There’s still a price. “Your privacy is what’s paying for it,” says Brian Krupp. He’s a computer engineer at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Behind the scenes, he says, apps are “leaky.” They may deliberately collect more data than they
How to stop phone apps from spying on you Read More »
If you’re interested in the smallest things known to scientists, there’s something you should know. They are extraordinarily ill-behaved. But that’s to be expected. Their home is the quantum world. These subatomic bits of matter don’t follow the same rules as objects that we can see, feel or hold. These entities are ghostly and strange.
The quantum world is mind-bogglingly weird Read More »
With round lenses set in super-thick frames, these new eyeglasses look like they belong on a cartoon character. But what they lack in style, they make up for in smart design. Their lenses are made of glycerin — a thick, colorless liquid — encased in clear rubber. And without effort, they will focus on whatever
Auto-focus eyeglasses rely on liquid lenses Read More »
A 94Fifty looks like an ordinary basketball. You can inflate, dribble, pass, shoot, swoosh and slam-dunk it. But there’s more going on than meets the fingers. During play, the ball records how hard and fast a person dribbles and throws. It also measures the arc of a shot. It sends the data to a user’s
The Internet of Things wants to link all facets of our world Read More »
Fifty years ago, the first episode of Star Trek aired. It started as a quirky science-fiction television show that lasted for a mere three seasons. But the out-of-this world series launched a long-running story that went on to capture the imaginations of generations of viewers. It has left its fingerprints not only on pop culture but
Star Trek technology becomes more science than fiction Read More »
Last October in a noisy ballroom in Nashville, Tenn., six girls sat at a round table to design a spacecraft that could land on the moon. They started by thinking about ways the craft could fail. If it lands too hard, for example, the astronauts could be injured or killed. And a parachute won’t help. It works
A woman’s place is in science Read More »
